Wednesday, April 06, 2005

Another rough April start for the Mad Dog

The Cubs lost last night 5-4 with Greg Maddux giving up five earned over five innings-including 2 homeruns to Luis Gonzalez. I can't say that I'm surprised, as I had the over-under on runs given up by the Mad Dog at exactly 5. Maddux has become a slow starter-in terms of season performance, not pitch speed Poindexter- as he has gotten older. During the last three years, Greg has been 6-6 in the month of April with a 5.10 ERA. He's 8-4 and 3.42 in May during that timeframe, and it seems as though he gets better as the weather gets warmer, judging by his 10-2 and 2.43 in July and 8-5 with 2.60 in August. So expect a few more rough starts until Mad Dog gets in his groove-and the umps start giving him the corners again.

Speaking of Luis Gonzalez, anybody else find it odd that he hit 57 homeruns in 2001 and hasn't really come close to that since? Or even before for that matter? Hell, the second most he's had was 31 in 2000. This from a guy who wasn't really a power hitter the first seven or so years of his career. Then all of a sudden he's blasting 57 out the park in one season. After that season his power numbers dropped back down to the mid-20's for homeruns. Reminds me of Brady Anderson.